Shloka 47

अम्बा–राम–भीष्म संवादः

Amba–Rama–Bhishma Dialogue on Vow and Refuge

Devanagari script

अयं चापि विशुद्धात्मन्‌ पुराणे श्रूयते विभो । मरुत्तेन महाबुद्धे गीत: श्लोको महात्मना

Transliteration

ayaṃ cāpi viśuddhātman purāṇe śrūyate vibho | maruttena mahābuddhe gītaḥ śloko mahātmanā |

Translation

हे विशुद्धात्मन्, हे विभो! पुराण-परम्परा में यह भी सुना जाता है—महात्मा मरुत्त ने, हे महाबुद्धि राम, यह श्लोक गाया है। उसका आशय यह है कि यदि गुरु भी गर्व से भरकर कर्तव्य-अकर्तव्य का विवेक खो दे और कुपथ का आश्रय ले, तो उसका परित्याग किया जाता है।

Word by Word

• {'ayam': 'this (statement/verse)', 'ca api': 'and also

• moreover', 'viśuddhātman': 'O pure-souled one (vocative)', 'purāṇe': 'in the Purāṇa

• in ancient tradition', 'śrūyate': 'is heard

• is traditionally reported', 'vibho': 'O mighty one

• O lord (vocative)', 'maruttena': 'by Marutta (instrumental)', 'mahābuddhe': 'O great-minded/very wise one (vocative)', 'gītaḥ': 'sung

• uttered (as a verse)', 'ślokaḥ': 'verse

• stanza', 'mahātmanā': 'by the great-souled one (instrumental)'}

Speaker

राम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Rāma
• Marutta
• Purāṇa (ancient tradition)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Moral authority is conditional on dharma: even a teacher or elder is not to be followed if pride leads him to abandon right conduct and lose discernment of duty versus non-duty; one should withdraw allegiance from such a path.

What is happening in the narrative?

Rāma cites an older, Purāṇa-sourced saying attributed to the great king Marutta, invoking traditional precedent to support an ethical point about when it is proper to renounce guidance that has turned unrighteous.